Spanner in the works
by chasethecloudsaway
Summary: Tom and Ursula rush to stop the Nekross taking advantage of a gremlin infestation plaguing an English village, only to find they are too late! However, Varg soon discovers he has taken on much more than he bargained… Set early series two.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Somewhere in England, there was a quiet country village, lit not by street lamps as darkness clouded over the sky, but rather multiple candles placed in each and every window. There were few hints as to modern intervention in this serene haven; a satellite dish balanced on a roof, a television seen inside a lounge, a mobile phone abandoned on a coffee table. No teenagers stalked the streets. Occasionally a fox scampered across the road, but with minimal interruption.

Such a tranquil location could be deemed as being cut off from the world – closer to nature, indeed, for woodland surrounded the houses and roads, uniting the human civilisation with the wild, magical ways of the forest. A mysterious setting as this could not be passed by the wonders of the Netherside. Usually, the odd faerie flitted past a home or a will-o-the-wisp floated into somebody's garden, but rarely anything more.

Echoes of soft giggles intertwined with the whisper of gentle breezes, progressively becoming louder and louder, until anybody standing outside would surely catch ear of them. The laughter grew less mild; before long mischievous screeches drowned out the wind. Eventually, small shadows flashed past dustbins and flower beds. The shrieks became meaner, and were soon joined by collapsed washing lines, bin spillages, flowers being uprooted and so on…

This was most certainly not the work of a harmless elf or a hamadryade.

The village was in deep trouble.

There was only one magical being renowned for wreaking such devastating havoc.

Gremlins.

They were the naughtiest, most disrespectful, most hair-wrenchingly abominable of all the creatures of the Netherside (rivalled only by goblins, trolls and bogles) and they were right here on the doorstep of so many innocent victims, who were ignorantly slumbering through all the pandemonium that was being inflicted upon their lovely settlement.

Unfortunately, aside from being troublemakers, gremlins also had a terrible habit of drawing attention to themselves. They fed upon mischief, so anyone sensitive to enchantment could easily feel the amount of nourishment they were generating from their mayhem. Likewise, anybody who had programmed a scrying mirror or a _computer_ to detect such powerful magic would soon be alerted that there was an abundance of it right within the town the gremlins had victimised…

The peaceful village was about to receive yet another unconventional visitor. A tall man clad in blue armour with yellow scaly skin and tentacles materialised onto a street, accompanied by several henchmen. He held up his arm, reading the data on a screen built into his gauntlet.

Varg directed the soldiers forward. The Nekross were truly going to feast upon a wealth of delicious magic that night!

Since all the villagers were in bed, no-one caught sight of the team of burly aliens striding toward the centre of the gremlins' play. It was not difficult to detect where each little monster was hiding, as they left a trail of destruction everywhere their feet trod.

Varg paced toward a cluster of bushes, as the guards got ready the containers in which they would carry their prizes back to their spaceship. The creature in the bush snickered merrily, totally oblivious of the fate that awaited him. Two of the crewman laid down the crate. Of course, a gremlin might not just walk into an empty box simply from curiosity. To ensure they were captured, bait had been positioned within – what more could a gremlin not resist than a machine just waiting to be ripped to pieces, in this case a blaster.

The prince bent down, his eye on the target. He beckoned to the henchmen, and they moved behind the rubbish bins, as to avoid being seen by their prey. Varg concealed himself behind a letter box, only to realise it was much too short to hide him properly, so he bent down, straining to stop his knees from jutting out.

Out of the vegetation crawled a small figure; in the dim light it was hard to distinguish his features, but he was somewhat akin to the Hobbledehoy, only with a smaller nose and ears and a humanoid body. He chattered in delight when he caught sight of the gun.

Varg hoped he wouldn't take long to fall for the trick, as his legs were killing him!

Whilst the little guy tore up the firearm, a glittering orange mist filled the air as he harvested more chaos. The prince had to restrain himself from dashing out and devouring the lot.

There was a shriek as the gremlin found his world plunged into darkness. The door on the container had automatically slammed shut, trapping him inside. Though he knocked thunderously on the walls, giving thwarted squeals, there was no way out.

Around the village, the Nekross caught many others in the same manner, and soon had an entire stack of rattling crates. Varg eyed the tower proudly and chuckled.

"Soon the Nekross will feast upon such exquisite magic!"

The king would be so pleased. Nothing had even got in the way of their-

"_Let them go, Varg!_" cried a voice from behind.

The prince swivelled round to see none other than his arch nemesis, accompanied by the hag Crowe.

"Tom Clarke! Enemy of Nekron. You are powerless to stop us."

"I wouldn't bet on it!"

Fast as lightning, Tom shouted an incantation and snapped his fingers, flinging a trail of fiery magic at the containers.

At exactly the same speed, Varg pressed his communication device and ordered the operator to beam everybody up.

The next thing Tom knew, his surroundings had dissolved to become the Zarantulus' transporter room, in which Varg was pointing his trusty weapon at his head.

"At last the Nekross shall feast on you and your delicious magic, wizard half-form!" he taunted, drawing his face near to Tom's, "When the king awakens from his rest, he will witness the magic being sucked from your very bones."

"This isn't over, Varg," retorted Tom defiantly.

The prince cackled wickedly and was about to say something even more dramatic, when abruptly his attention was drawn to some unnerving noises coming from the crates.

"What the-?"

The boxes were now beset by a storm of electrical bolts, causing their wires to fizzle and explode. One of the lids flew off, turning several somersaults. A gremlin zoomed out of it before anyone could so much as register what had happened.

There were more bangs and crackles, until several more containers had let their contents loose. The escaped gremlins whizzed through panels in the nearby machinery, vanishing out of sight.

The wizard and the Nekross exchanged horrified glances, and then the lights started flickering, as the air was filled with the gremlins' laughter.

"What did you just do, Thomas?" enquired Ursula, who had become completely lost at the swiftness of the events that had flown by in the last minute.

"I freed the gremlins," answered Tom, peering around the room, "And now they've got into the ship. _Spectacular!_"

"Gremlins are dastardly little scoundrels," observed Gran, keeping a lookout, "They have no respect for the un-enchanted, or anyone really! They're ghastly little mischief-makers; always causing havoc and making machinery break down." Her voice dropped to a low volume. "Just think what they could do with _Nekross_ technology…"

WIZARDS VS ALIENS

"Spanner in the works"

"Enough talking, hag!" bellowed Varg, as two soldiers seized the prisoners.

"You need our help!" insisted Tom, "If those things get into the controls, they could be worse than that virus Benny put into your computer!"

The guards bundled him and Granny into the corridor.

"I have no time for this!" responded the prince, "You will remain in the holding cells until we are ready to extract your magic."

"If the gremlins start playing with your ship, you won't even be able to use the extractor! You heard what Gran said – they make machinery break down. Remember how the virus switched off life support? What if they did that again?"

"We will not be deceived by your tricks, wizard halfling!"

They had reached the brig, and Varg opened one of the doors. The wizards were thrust inside.

"The boy's right!" said Ursula supportively, "You can't handle them alone! They'll destroy everything on this ship!"

The prince locked the entrance.

Tom clasped his fingers round the bars. "Please! Listen, Varg! You are making a big mistake!"

Varg didn't appear to listen, and he strode away with the guards.

"Great!" cursed Tom, "We're stuck on the Zarantulus! Dad is going to be furious if I'm not there for exams tomorrow." He groaned.

Michael Clarke was aware that his son had swanned off with Granny at midnight to sort out a gremlin infestation, but he had no idea that their plans had backfired and now they were abducted by their enemies. Tom could visualise him cringing at the thought of another interference with his school life at the hands of a bunch of snake-headed aliens.

…

It wasn't long before Varg began to notice things weren't running smoothly on the Zarantulus as normal.

Automatic doors still opened, but regrettably never at the time when someone was actually trying to go through them. He ended up playing silly games with one while trying to make it to the bridge. As soon as he was able to get near as possible whilst the doors were not closed, he leapt through, barely making it before they shut again.

After he had picked himself off the floor and made his way to the next one, the prince realised in infuriation that it wouldn't unlock at all!

Officers working on the flight deck got a mighty surprise when the entrance started giving off a fountain of sparks, and Prince Varg kicked down a sizable hole.

The lights had been turned down a little bit, to signify that it was the night shift. Enormous snores came from within the king's chamber, which was sealed off by the door with the logo on it.

Varg was promptly greeted by Technician Jathro 15, who was rather flustered about something.

"My most Exquisite Excellency, I'm afraid I have to report there are some…_slight _malfunctions with the doors…the technician staff are assuredly working hard to resolve this error."

"The gremlins have escaped," reported the prince, going to a console.

Jathro opened his mouth to say something more but then froze in a look of horror, his tentacles curving upwards. Though he was not as knowledgeable as to human culture as his superiors, he had been told that the mission Varg had just returned from was to catch some beings that fed on trouble-making – more precisely trouble-making that involved messing with machinery. This was bad news, not only because they would cause severe problems, but he was an engineer and would be expected to fix them!

He dashed over to the control panel, observing what the prince was looking up. On the screen was a cross-section of the Zarantulus, which allowed the viewer to hone in on any part of the ship. In certain areas, there were flashing icons indicating magic, or more specifically, the magic the gremlins were creating.

"Do not worry, my Excellency…we can soon-"

All of a sudden, there was a tremendous bang from one of the computers on the other side of the room, knocking both men onto their backs, alongside every other hand on deck.

Emergency lights sprang onto every screen. The king stirred in his slumber, dribbling and muttering nonsense phrases.

Varg paced over to the console from which the noise came from.

"Do be careful, my Excellency!" called Jathro.

As he made his way, the prince became concerned that he could feel small thumps under his feet, coupled by occasional crackles and that irritating laughter, which by now he quite detested.

Not only that, but there were disturbing noises coming from the device. Though he would hate to admit this, Tom and Ursula's words sprang back to mind with chilling reality…

_"__They'll destroy everything on this ship!"_

_"__If those things get into the controls, they could be worse than that virus Benny put into your computer!"_

Varg reached out slowly to touch the machine. He gave it a small tap. There was that laughter again! Not to mention a strong scent of_intoxicating_ magic…

It was then bridge began dropping rapidly in temperature. Before anyone could blink, it was joined by a soft snowfall.

"Oh, my!" uttered the stunned technician, scrambling to a console, "It appears…the environmental controls have been tampered with!"

Two of the crewmen had already begun building a snowman.

…

Meanwhile, in another room on the Zarantulus, Lexi was lying fast asleep on her bed, the lights dimmed. At first, there was utmost silence, but faint mutters disturbed the peace.

Lexi's tentacles writhed a little.

Something knocked over a metallic object, which fell with a soft 'clang'. The princess awoke forcefully and sat bolt upright, stopping dead when she realised what seemed to have woken her up.

Whilst she waited for her pulse to go down and her snakes to stop trembling, she reasoned that the noise couldn't have been anything more than her imagination. She'd obviously been reading too much information on humans lately. Their halflings were always supposing there were monsters under the bed or hiding in the closet. She had nothing to worry about.

Lexi tried to settle back to sleep and was just about to nod off once more, when an enormous 'CRASH!' made her jump out of her scaly skin.

RIGHT! That did it!

Lexi flung off the bedclothes and stomped over to the wall from which the racket had come from. However, as though it had anticipated her coming, the noise had inexplicably gone.

This was just too strange! The princess decided to go back under her cosy quilt, but she would not return without a…certain item. She made her way to the wardrobe and fumbled around in the dark for a box at the bottom, accidentally getting attacked by one of her boots, which seemed to think it was morning again and wanted to go walkies.

Finally, she managed to fish out the object she was after and made her way back to bed with it in her arms. Tucking herself under the covers, she started to relax again, ready to drop off at any minute…

CRASH! BANG! WALLOP!

This was the last straw! Lexi sat up and scanned the room. She wasn't going back to sleep until she solved this exasperating mystery. Whilst she was on guard, she became conscious that gradually she was feeling…rather weightless. She told herself that this was yet another delusion – until, that is, she discovered that her bed was about half a metre below her body.

Crying out in fright, she found herself tumbling head over heels in mid-air. The entire room appeared to be upside-down. Once she had figured which way up she was, she steadied herself by keeping a hand pressed to the ceiling, working out what was the best thing for her to do in this situation.

Crewmembers manning the passageway were startled when one of the doors opened and out toppled the princess, landing in an awkward heap on the floor. One of them helped her up, trying not to stare at her…_unusual_ outfit, or the small item she held close to her chest.

As soon as she had straightened herself, she reported to the officer, "There are some malfunctions with the gravity in my quarters."

It was then she noticed one of the guards was struggling to get through a certain door, which never was open whilst he was trying to pass through it.

Lexi snatched the nearby crewman's firearm and blasted it down. Brandishing the gun, she stepped over the threshold, spotting a flurry of white particles coming through a hole on a wall in the corridor she was now in, which she knew lead to the flight deck. Peering inside, she saw the bridge was enveloped in a thick sheet of fluffy snow.

Technician 15 was frantically fiddling with the consoles, trying to sort out whatever the gremlins had been up to, whilst Varg rubbed his hands together in an effort to stay warm. Several officers were making snow angels on the frosty blanket.

"Aah!" exclaimed Jathro, his breath visible like steam, "Do not be alarmed, my most Exquisite Excellency! It appears it is simply a matter of altering the temperature and humidity…nothing we cannot fix!"

He pressed several keys but a negative sound told him he couldn't override the controls (although how the gremlins were able to in the first place, we shall never know!)

He explained to the prince that the commands could only be overruled by the highest ranking officer on the ship – none other than the king!

The prince hated to rouse him, but this was a serious emergency and extreme measures had to be taken.

Jathro caused the doors to slide, allowing everyone to see the snoozing king, drooling green saliva.

"Father!" called Varg, "We need your assistance! The gremlins have caused the environmental systems to malfunction and we cannot override them."

The king didn't seem to notice – he just snored harder, slobbering over the deck.

"FATHER! THIS IS AN EMERGENCY! If you do not interfere, they will have access to life support, and will pose a threat to us all…_FATHER_!"

Sharply, the king's eyes snapped open.

"_Who dares disturb the king of Nekron in his very slumber_!?" he bellowed.

"Father, the gremlins have infiltrated the environmental systems. We need you to override them before they gain access to life support!"

The king's antennae arched as he examined the disaster the gremlins had already caused. The crewmembers had now finished building their snowman, complete with tentacles, and had given him a blaster.

Fearful of the prospect that the oxygen et cetera could cut out any second, thus endangering his life, the king immediately began ordering the computer to stop the snowfall on the control centre, but it didn't give the impression that it was responding.

Jathro investigated the matter. "The computer says you need higher authority."

"There is no higher authority!" shouted Varg in astonishment.

Technician 15 managed to get the computer's response on audio.

"_Registered: King of Nekron, lowest ranking officer on ship_."

"WHAAAAAAT!?" erupted Varg.

"THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!" exploded the king.

The snowfall had become heavier, and many of the guards were shivering.

Jathro pressed just about every button on the console, desperately trying to turn the climate back to normal. Eventually, he gave up and slapped the machine. There was nothing he could do.

A crewman hurtled a snowball at the king, and it landed with a splat on his nose. Varg gave them a look.

Holding his head in the same manner a human might tear their hair out when they were frustrated, Jathro explained, "The controls cannot be overridden! No-one has higher authority than the king!"

Just as everyone was concluding they were in deep trouble, a pair of bare scaly yellow feet tiptoed their way through the hole Varg had created earlier onto a patch of the floor that wasn't buried beneath the thick snow.

"Do not be concerned," interrupted Lexi, "If the king has been demoted to the lowest ranking member of staff, then perhaps the lowest ranking member of staff has been promoted to the highest."

Animation came back into Jathro's tentacles. He went back to the computer and began searching the crew archive.

Meanwhile, Varg took to teasing his little sister. It was amusing enough she had entered the flight deck in nothing but her pyjamas, which consisted of a long-sleeved top and trousers made of cotton, coloured the same blue as her uniform, with miniature indigo Sydney Opera House shoulders, but what really took the biscuit was that she had forgotten to conceal the special object clasped tight in her hand…

"Dear sister," he taunted, "I see you have not parted with the toys you played with as a half-form."

Hugged close to the princess' chest was a small, yellow, tentacled doll clad in a purple velvet ball-gown, with shoulders alike her sleepwear.

Dread flashed upon Lexi's eyes as she realised Varg knew her secret.

"That is not important, brother!" she snapped, "What is causing these infuriating malfunctions?"

The prince didn't answer at first. He had no need to. It was easy to distinguish the giggles and clunks beneath her toes.

Lexi's antennae squirmed. She hadn't imagined it after all! There _was_ something in the machinery.

"The gremlins have escaped," Varg informed her.

"Gremlins…" mulled the princess, as her face morphed into a look of absolute horror.

"Technician Brook 50!" announced Jathro out of the blue.

"Excuse me, Technician 15?" responded a bewildered Lexi, who by now was hugging her chest to conserve heat.

"…the lowest ranking member of staff! Everything will be fixed shortly, my Exquisite Excellencies!"

He pressed a few keys and upon the screen came a picture of an officer in a helmet…which quite frankly looked the same as every other officer on the Zarantulus, but Jathro recognised it as the person they were after.

"Technician Brook 50, report to flight deck," he ordered, forgetting how difficult such a route might be, considering the aggravating behaviour of the doors.

Brook tried to reply but somehow his words became scrambled and indistinct.

"I cannot understand you, Technician 50! Repeat what you said!"

Brook probably did so, but nobody could make any more sense of what he stated the second time as they did the first.

"It appears the communication system is now also defective," concluded Jathro with a wince.

At that moment, the low temperature was joined by soft winds, which rapidly became more forceful, until eventually it turned the thick snowfall into a raging blizzard.

"EVACUATE THE FLIGHT DECK!" shrieked Lexi.

Crewmembers bolted through the breach. Jathro bent his head down and braved the storm as he used the computer to seal the king from the turbulent weather, before diving out through the hole into the corridor.

Lexi sat on the floor and pressed her hands to her mouth as she removed the numbness from her fingers. Reptilian Nekross skin was definitely not geared up for the arctic!

"Relocate to transporter room!" commanded Varg, shaking the frost from his tentacles. He had noticed on the computer screen that no gremlins had yet infiltrated it, even though it had been the place where they were initially released.

Huddling together, they all made their way down the passage, stopping briefly at a storage facility to grab some computers that they would set up to monitor the gremlins, before resuming the journey. It was not long before they ran into a major obstacle.

Whilst at the frontline of the procession, Jathro's attention was drawn to some wild bloops coming from his gauntlet. He checked to see what the fuss was…and his face fell. Already the group had made it through several tunnels, often having to demolish doors, and by now they were approaching yet another entrance. Varg had his weapon in position and was just about to shoot it down…

"Excuse me, my Exquisite Excellency," interrupted Technician 15, "The readings from my device indicate that the environmental controls have been tampered with beyond that door. It is not safe to enter. The oxygen levels are below breathability."

"Then we cannot reach the transporter room!" exclaimed Lexi, "The only route that will lead us there is through the next corridor!"


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

"Divert course to EVA suit storage facility," instructed Varg, and everyone followed him.

Lexi was pretty glad about the forthcoming change of outfit, as she had become reduced to obsessively rubbing her arms in the hope of warming herself up, and also to conceal the cuddly friend she regretfully wished she'd abandoned in her quarters.

Inside the storeroom, she changed out of her pyjamas into a Nekross spacesuit, which was very similar to her uniform, except there was a base attached to her shoulders for her helmet and her trousers were fashioned from plain, thick material in the standard blue. She also had a tank attached to her back.

She folded her pyjamas and set them in a locker, giving the doll one last squeeze before she placed it on top, and shut the closet.

Varg, Jathro and the others were congregated in the hallway.

"I see you have not brought your childhood companion," teased the prince as Lexi joined them.

An amusing image sprang to the princess' mind of the little dolly wearing a miniature replica of the spacesuit she had on, but she pushed it away.

"Enough, brother!" she barked, fixing on her helmet, which consisted of a glass half-bubble backed and surrounded by blue metallic material; slightly oversized as to allow her tentacles wriggling space, and also so her face and head could be seen properly.

The technicians air-locked the doors located around the passageway everyone was stood in already, so no oxygen would escape.

Once also helmeted, Varg aimed his blaster and a vast hole was blown through the entry into the uninhabitable tunnel.

He stepped through the opening, still clasping the gun, in case there were any nasty surprises waiting round the corner. What he found was a totally empty passage; darkened and eerily quiet.

Carefully, he put one foot forward. At least the gravity was working!

"FORWARD, MARCH!"

Lexi and Jathro jogged up to him, and the troop of officers began parading regimentally down the corridor, led by the prince.

Though he didn't say it aloud, Varg was immensely troubled at how prophetic Tom's words had become. The gremlins had already infiltrated one section of the ship and switched off life support. How long would it be before they hijacked the entire Zarantulus?

Passing the entrance to the holding cells, he decided to pay his friends a visit.

Assuming they were still alive…

…

Tom Clarke had been sat contemplating his fate for some time. Loud clunks had come from the heart of the machinery, sending shivers down his spine. If they were anything like Granny had described, their nimble fingers could easily tap into any system. Thankfully, the gremlins didn't mess with any of the controls in the brig, unfortunately including the locks on the cells, and he had no idea what disasters they were causing, until Varg beamed into the room – wearing a spacesuit. He removed his helmet as soon as he confirmed there was air.

"Whoa," whispered Tom, observing his getup, "They've got into life support."

Varg moved his face close to the bars and hissed, "Tell me, wizard half-form: how do you annihilate this vexatious curse?"

Tom gave a smirk. Finally he'd got the prince under his thumb.

"First, you need to get us out of here."

The Nekross tapped a few controls, and the gaol gates clicked open.

"OK, Varg, here's the deal," began the wizard halfling, "If we get rid of the gremlins, you are to beam us directly back to earth in the place you found us – _with_ the gremlins."

"If we do not retain the gremlins, we will have no magic for the extractor-"

"You have no other choice."

Varg took this in. He didn't like it one bit, but there was no other way round this dilemma.

"The corridor is unsafe to enter without protective clothing," he explained, checking information on his gauntlet, "However, the transporter room is not presently contaminated. It appears the gremlins have overlooked it. We will use this to our advantage. From this area, we will form a stratagem to prove their utter destruction. I will beam us directly there."

With that, Tom, Ursula and the prince vanished and then rematerialized on the transporter pad.

"We must get to work immediately!" cried Mrs Crowe, "Those scoundrels could come for us any minute!"

"We have traced their positions across the ship," reported an un-helmeted Lexi, who was manning the control panel, "The majority surround the flight deck but there is a steady increase in the amount of gremlins approaching our location."

Granny was pacing back and forth. "The only way we can get rid of those monsters is if we perform a snaring spell – but they must be in one place! The spell will not work if they are spread across the ship!"

"Then do we…I don't know…lure them?" suggested Tom, "What would catch a gremlin?"

Gran had a brainwave. "Gremlins feed on chaos! What we need is something they would not be able to resist."

"Such bait was used in the traps we initiated earlier," informed Varg.

Tom had seen this in action and knew what he meant. "Yes, but they were only small things – like guns, or communicators…we need something big. Something that the gremlins would want to feed upon more than what they're already doing."

Several thumps came from the ceiling.

"The gremlins have penetrated the transporter controls," Lexi alerted, as the sound of fizzing wires testified of their presence, "I cannot override them!"

"Think…_think_ Ursula!" said Granny to herself, clasping her hands together, "What can gremlins not resist?"

"Life support is failing on 25% of the ship!" exclaimed Technician 15.

Gran's face broke into a massive grin. "I've got it!" she squealed, "Aside from chaos, there is one other thing that gremlins cannot refuse…"

…

On earth, the time was nearly one o'clock in the morning. Benny Sherwood was tucked deep beneath his duvet, fast asleep. He was clad in grey pyjamas, consisting of a shirt and trousers, with drawings of planets patterned across them.

"_Benny_!" a voice called.

The boy stirred a little, groaning.

"BENNY!" repeated the voice.

Benny snapped out of his slumber and sat upright. What was that?

He slipped on his glasses and scanned the room. The only thing abnormal was a faint glow round his laptop.

Hey! There was something _on_ the screen. Something that shouldn't be there. Something that looked like Tom Clarke…

Benny leapt out of bed and raced to the computer. Sure enough, Tom's face was visible on it…not to mention several Nekross soldiers in the background.

"Tom!" he cried, "Where are you?"

His friend described what had happened earlier whilst he and Granny were trying to stop the Nekross from kidnapping a bunch of gremlins, and how he caused them to run riot across the Zarantulus. He then proceeded to ask Benny to download a certain file from iTunes.

"What do you need that for?" queried Benny.

"I'll explain later!"

Benny logged into his iTunes profile, and scrolled through a list of movies, until he found the correct one.

Tom told him to play it as he would normally watch a film, and the Nekross would be able to put it on their view-screens. However, before the cameras rolled, they needed to work out a place they could gather all the gremlins to.

"We could use the flight deck!" suggested Tom, starting to wonder why Lexi and Varg weren't already there…

"The gremlins have altered the environmental controls," said Varg gravely, "It is unsafe to enter."

"That is no longer a concern, my Excellency!" chirped Jathro excitedly, finishing some work on his console, "The technician staff have succeeded in modifying the temperature and humidity to a more comfortable level."

The princess fiddled with some switches. "I have air-locked the undamaged doors in the corridors leading to the flight deck. The conditions are suitable for the gremlins to enter."

"One last thing…" Tom reminded everyone, pacing up to the prince, "Remember that deal I made with you, Varg. I need you to show me that if I get rid of the gremlins, you'll be as good as your word, and get me and Gran home."

Lexi eyed her brother in disapproval.

Ignoring her glance, Varg went over to the computer and gave Tom a temporary access code to the transporters – which clearly would only work if the ship was purged of gremlins.

When that was sorted, Tom instructed Benny to fast-forward to a particular song in the movie. Jathro directed the video onto all the screens in the bridge, turned up the volume and then they waited.

It wasn't long before, somewhere in the distance, they heard the song begin…

"_Hi ho_!"

"_Hi ho_!"

"_Hi ho! Hi ho! Hi ho_!"

Lexi's antennae curled in utmost curiosity.

All the dwarves in the film broke into song, and eventually they weren't the only people creating a melody on the Zarantulus. The voices of gremlins started joining in, as their feet scraped in the opposite direction to the transporter room.

On the flight deck, panels on the walls clattered to the floor and out sprang the little rascals. The surface was still covered with a soft layer of snow, but this was swiftly melting, alongside the Nekross snowman in the corner. The gremlins all gathered together in front of one of the screens. There was not a small number either! Varg and his henchmen had managed to capture at least thirty of them, which had been more than enough to cause all that havoc on the ship.

The king had returned to his beauty sleep, yet not even the cacophony of a gremlin choir could disturb him!

Without any more monsters toying with the systems, Jathro ordered the staff to get to work fixing the damage.

In the meantime, Tom devised a plan to catch the beasts. He would sneak down the passageway, and cast the snaring spell, which would throw them into the Nekross' traps. They wouldn't even know what hit them!

"The environmental controls are down in most of the corridors," stated Lexi, "The wizard half-form will require an EVA suit if he is to complete this mission." At her command, a crew-member went off to fetch one. "I will accompany him to ensure everything goes according to plan."

The prince bent close to the lad. "If you attempt any tricks, wizard halfling, you will be instantly obliterated."

Tom smiled. "By the way, Varg, I just wondered – can your ray guns work in space? It would be pretty difficult to shoot me if they can't fire in a vacuum!"

…

The hi-ho song had now ended, but the gremlins remained thoroughly enthralled by the movie, especially since they had got to the part where the seven dwarves suspect there is an intruder in their house and begin investigating. Little did they know, several corridors away from the gremlins' party was an entirely different sort of party, for this one was laden with weapons, and carried crates for imprisoning the creatures inside.

Lexi was at the front of the procession, grasping the suited Tom Clarke firmly by the arm, pointing her blaster at his chest.

Despite having omitted the cumbersome shoulder spikes and chest armour, the wizard seemed slightly dwarfed by the bulky spacesuit, especially the helmet, which wasn't designed with the expectation that a human might wear it. He struggled to hold his balance in his outfit, mainly due to the awkwardness of the size of his boots. However, the thick material his sleeves were crafted from didn't make the princess' grip any gentler.

"Could you please stop holding me, Lexi?" he pleaded, "It's not as if I can run anywhere!"

"You will remain in my custody until we have obtained the gremlins."

Tom squirmed, hoping a bruise wasn't forming.

The company reached another doorway. Lexi tried to blast her way through, but it didn't budge. Leaving the wizard in the clutch of a crewman, she attempted to wrench it open with her bare hands, but it was impossible.

Once she had totally worn herself out, she sank to the floor and concluded they were unable to penetrate it. A crewmember was going to obtain a crowbar, but discovered the door at the other end of the tunnel had decided that its counterpart's behaviour was an awfully good idea, and had impertinently closed itself just as tightly.

"Great!" cursed Tom, "We're trapped."

"Lexi to Varg," said the female Nekross into her helmet's microphone, "Come in, Varg! We need a team of engineers in passage 49!"

The device let out a series of muffled, incomprehensible words, which was probably the prince trying to reply.

"The communication system is dysfunctional," the princess remembered in humiliation. Though technicians had managed to repair it enough to contact Benny, there were still many faults that hadn't been resolved.

She was going to have to work around this obstacle using an alternative method.

"Lexi?" said Tom unexpectedly, peering upward, "Remember earlier when the gremlins escaped? They climbed through panels in the wall – just like that one!" He pointed to a section of the ceiling, which looked big enough to be a hatch. If he was careful, it was possible he could fit through it. "I could climb through there and see if there's another way to the flight deck."

Lexi snatched him off the officer. "You will not go alone," she insisted, glancing at the flap.

How Tom managed to convince her to do what she did next she wondered for years to come. Whilst he tugged at the vent, the princess' superior Nekross strength came in handy whilst she hoisted him up as high as she could, having refused any assistance from the guards! Just as she was starting to complain he was too heavy for her to hold onto a moment longer, Tom yanked off the grate and the pair of them tumbled to the floor.

Once they had diagnosed there had been no broken bones/cracked helmets/disconnected air supplies et cetera, they both stared into the opening they had just created. Not a trace of light came from the hole. It was as though they were gazing into space itself.

Lexi activated a torch in her gauntlet and shone it into the darkness above. A few broken wires leaking from behind a screen on the tunnel wall could be made out. The gremlins had paid it a visit earlier; perhaps this was to blame for the fault in the life support.

"So that's what they've been doing!" remarked Tom. It had been all very well acknowledging that the monsters had been messing with the machinery, but now he saw the manner in which they worked, it was apparent why everything had gone haywire. The poor technicians had a tough task on their hands, fixing up all those severed wires!

Lexi checked her gauntlet. "There are no longer any gremlins in the proximity. It appears every one of them has joined the assembly on the flight deck."

Tom turned on his light. He offered Lexi a leg up, and found out that a fully grown Nekross clad in a hefty spacesuit is not the easiest thing to elevate.

As soon as the princess had made it into the shaft, she lent the wizard halfling her hand and hauled him inside, almost falling over at the strain.

Seated on the floor (which he hoped to goodness was sturdy!), Tom moved his arm around, observing the tunnel's shape and form, that he might be able to navigate it. It was barely high enough to sit up in and rather than being round like a children's adventure playground slide, it was hexagonal, much like the crates the guards were carrying.

He needn't have worried, however, as Lexi knew the ship better than he did, and appointed herself as the leader. She consulted her arm-piece for information on the configuration of the passageways.

"My device states that a storage room is located not far from here. We should be able to obtain a crowbar from this facility. I will lead us there."

_At least she's not pointing that gun at me anymore_, thought Thomas.

The team crawled through what seemed like miles of pitch black shafts, relying heavily on their gauntlets to see where they were going. Unfortunately, that didn't always mean they were reliable. On occasion, Tom found himself accidentally head-butting unsuspected dips in the ceiling or shuffling slap bang into the wall when there was a surprise bend. Eventually, he was grateful he was wearing a helmet!

"We have nearly attained our destination," notified Lexi.

Tom bumped his head on a panel. "Ouch!"

The princess swivelled her head round.

"Do look where you're going!"

"That's easier said than done when you can't see anything!"

Lexi tried to mask her tiny smile, but likewise, it was easier said than done.

"Did you smile?" asked Tom.

She had turned her face away.

"You did smile, didn't you?" attempted the wizard.

Though he couldn't see it, Lexi's illuminated countenance had been lit up even more by the presence of a grin. It was a shame it was knocked off her face the next second, when she inadvertently blundered into a wall.

"Ow!"

"Are you OK, Lexi?"

Tom rushed up to her. The Nekross had sat herself down, which was a very sensible idea, since they were both exhausted after having made their way through the tunnels for the last half hour. The lad seated himself beside her.

"How much further?" he probed.

Lexi waited to catch her breath back before examining her device.

"48 metres."

"I thought you said the storage room wasn't far! We've been in here for ages."

The princess didn't seem to listen. Tom noticed she had closed her eyes, as if she was about to drop off. He nudged her sharply.

Lexi sprang back into consciousness. She stretched her arms and yawned in a very un-Nekross-like manner.

"I should be in bed right now," observed Tom, thinking about his dad. Had he twigged by now that his and Granny's undertaking had been worryingly lengthy?

"Tom…" whispered the Nekross, drifting away.

It was then the wizard realised that something was up.

"Lexi?"

He elbowed her several times, but she kept slipping away.

_Wait!_ Was that a hiss?

Tom investigated the source of the sound. Sure enough, he found that a tube connected to her oxygen supply had somehow become detached, and was spewing out air.

She was fading fast. There was no time to lose.

Tom studied the base supporting her space helmet, desperately trying to figure out where the tube was meant to go.

All the while, Lexi's breaths grew softer and softer…

…

"The communication system is now working properly, my most Exquisite Excellency," said Jathro, "The transporters are up and running. Oh!" He gave a smirk. "…and the extractor has finished recalibrating."

Varg gave a horrid chuckle.

"I should have known," whispered Ursula.

"Foolish wizard half-form! He could not defraud the might of Nekron! When he has annihilated the gremlins, you will witness the magic being sucked from his very bones, and then you, hag, will join him…"


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three

Tom finally found the hole from which the tube had escaped, and stuffed it firmly into the base.

He shoved Lexi again.

"Wake up!"

The princess took in a giant gulp of air and coughed and choked a few times. Tom thumped her lightly on the back, even though he was really hitting her oxygen tank. He soon stopped this for fear of loosening the cord again.

"Whoa…" he breathed a sigh of relief, "You really had me scared then!"

Lexi opened the panel on her arm-piece. "I have an hour's worth left of oxygen. This should be sufficient to complete the mission." She stopped to ponder. "Something is not right…these spacesuits ought to be in impeccable condition. The technician staff would have noticed if they were defective!"

Tom and Lexi exchanged glances. It was a very short-lived mystery.

"The gremlins!" blamed Thomas.

"I will need to inspect your suit for any likewise faults."

The wizard bent over so she could see the back of his helmet's base. It was pretty nerve-wracking actually, having your arch enemy so close to the tubes that your very life depended on. All she had to do was silently slide one out to get rid of him…

"The tube connecting to the oxygen supply has been loosened. I will need to tighten it."

Lexi's gloved fingers started twisting the duct. For one awful moment Tom thought she might wrench it out, but then there was a slight 'click' and she moved her hand away, turning around to let him fix her own cable. Tom didn't want to look like an idiot who didn't know how to tighten a cord on an alien spacesuit so he made an attempt to screw it in, even though he didn't have a clue what he was doing…

_Hissssssssssssss!_

"No, no, no, no!" he cried in frustration.

He'd turned it the wrong way!

Tom frantically fiddled with the tube, trying to ignore the bewildered expression on Lexi's face. Finally, he heard the familiar 'click' and was able to relax.

"Phew!"

He tried to wipe his forehead, only to discover there was glass in the way.

Lexi caught sight of his actions and began chuckling.

"It wasn't that funny!" protested Tom, but he couldn't stop a smile forming.

It was just like it was when they were both held captive by Stephanie Gaunt. They were no longer deadly enemies. There was no hostility between them. You could almost say they were _friends_.

"I will never understand you," said the wizard.

"I now have 57 minutes' worth of air left," responded the princess. Tom wasn't quite sure, but it was almost as if she was joshing him. "There is no time to waste! We must get back to work immediately."

She led the way through the proceeding tunnel. Tom followed suite.

"_Tom_?" came a little voice.

It wasn't Lexi's. Was it coming through his intercom?

He was about to reply when the voice – which sounded a lot like Benny – told him not to.

"_I need to tell you something – Varg's not going to let you go. I overheard him tell your Gran that as soon as you've caught the gremlins, he's going to extract your magic!_"

"What?" whispered Tom.

"Did you just say something?" asked Lexi.

"Um…no…I was just talking to myself."

"I will never understand humans."

At that moment her body weight caused a weak panel beneath her to loosen brusquely, and it plummeted to the ground, taking her with it.

"Lexi!" cried Tom, scrambling over to the hole. He bent over to see if she was uninjured but she seemed to have vanished into a black abyss.

…

Both of Ursula's arms were gripped by burly guards.

Varg paced back and forth as Jathro reeled off the successes of the engineers.

"Environmental controls have been restored on 5% of the ship. Gravity has been repaired in half of the officers' quarters…"

The prince chuckled. It was too good to be true! At this rate, he wasn't even going to need Tom Clarke to eradicate the gremlins – he might as well do it himself!

He was seriously considering this and would have gone ahead with the idea if it wasn't for a slight distraction…or can you really call a gigantic jolt vibrating through the ship knocking everyone off their feet a _slight_ distraction?

Once he had regained his original position, Technician 15 gave some confirmation as to what the heck had caused this phenomenon.

"The shields are not yet functioning. We are defenceless…and it appears we have been struck by an unidentified object."

"_WHAT?!_" bellowed Varg.

…

The shockwave definitely did not go unnoticed by Tom. He was peering into the void, trying to find the princess, when he was forcefully catapulted right through the opening.

The next thing he knew, he was tumbling powerlessly through the darkness, bracing himself for the inevitable impact of the cold hard floor…

…which never came.

What had just occurred there? It was as though he was suspended in mid-air.

Not only that, but it seemed the thankfully unhurt Lexi whom he'd just noticed was _floating_ too.

"Oh boy…" Tom could see from his gauntlet's light that the ground was several metres below him.

"The gravity must be malfunctioning," observed Lexi.

"This is amazing…" breathed Thomas, finding himself doing a backward somersault.

The female Nekross pressed the panel on her arm-piece. "Activate gravitation lock."

She expected her boots to consequently fuse to the floor, but there was no response.

"Activate gravitation lock!" she repeated in frustration. Still nothing happened. "My suit must be defective!" She moved her torch around the room, hoping for some clue as to where they were.

One thing was for sure, it most certainly wasn't the storage area. The walls were plain and bare and no objects lined the floor.

"This must be a disused facility," noted Lexi, examining the walls for an exit. She was conscious Tom was proving to be of no assistance. "Are you going to help me or waste time performing somersaults whilst my oxygen runs out?"

The young wizard was spinning in circles above her head.

"Sorry, Lexi…it's just I've never been in space before."

"Consider yourself fortunate to have the experience. I am aware how few of your kind have ventured further than your home planet." She glided up to meet him. "Is your gravitation lock still functioning?"

"Could you please first explain to me _what that is_?"

"It enables the boots to secure to the nearest surface in zero gravity situations."

Tom lifted up his arm to his face. "Activate…gravitation lock?"

Suddenly, he was thrust to the surface before he even had a chance to breathe. His cumbersome boots were now attached so firmly to the floor that moving in them beforehand no longer seemed as much a chore in comparison.

"Um…Lexi? How am I meant to walk in these things?"

"Move one foot forward at a time. If you attempt to lift both of them at once you will lose the attraction."

Tom heaved up his right foot with all his might until it came unstuck.

"Now what do I do?!"

One boot was secured to the ground, whilst the other threatened to drift off according to its will and pleasure, so he had to force it to stay in the same position.

"_Put your right foot forward_," instructed Lexi.

Tom obeyed, and found that his shoe gripped the floor again as soon as it touched it.

"Whoa…"

This was pretty cool technology!

He repeated his actions with the other foot, and then the other, until he had got the hang of it.

"Where do you want me to go?"

"The entrance to a corridor leading to the storeroom is located somewhere in this facility. I need you to search for it."

Tom caught sight of Lexi hovering a few metres above him, as though she were his faerie Godmother, and struggled to restrain himself from laughing.

"What is it that you find so amusing?" asked the princess rhetorically.

Still grinning, the wizard scanned the walls for the door Lexi had spoken of. She too shone her torch light slowly in the opposite direction.

…

Tom and Lexi weren't the only people who spotted the error in the EVA suits' gravitation, let alone who found it a great hindrance...

Jathro – on errand of the prince – was attempting to investigate the cause of the massive tremor that had just occurred, only to realise he might have some difficulty if he had nothing attaching him to the hull of the ship. He spent a short time repairing the suits of himself and fellow crewman, for indeed their mission would be futile if he did not, and wasn't able to re-initiate the operation for nearly fifteen minutes.

Once all was settled, he and the team of technicians inspected a part of the exterior ship that the force had apparently originated from. The results were far from unexpected – humans had been dumping junk in space for decades, and now the Zarantulus had been treated to a friendly bash by some of it.

"Do not panic, my Excellency! The damage is not severe!" came Jathro's voice through the communication system, "However, it may require several hours to be repaired."

Meanwhile, Varg had set on the transporter room floor a large crate – large enough, indeed, to contain about thirty reluctant gremlins.

He gave a dark chuckle as he concluded that today the Nekross would finally get revenge on their greatest enemy…

…

You would think that the task of hunting for an exit in a disused unit on a spaceship would not be too challenging, but before long Tom and Lexi began to realise any such speculations were thoroughly false. When the section was plunged into darkness, it really gave a new meaning to the saying "needle in a haystack".

Though he couldn't see the size of the room, Tom now discerned it must be quite spacious or they would have found a way out by now.

"This is ridiculous!" he cried, "Can't you fix the lights or something?"

"I am not equipped with the correct tools," replied Lexi, swimming down to meet him and glancing at her gauntlet, "I now have less than half an hour's oxygen left."

"Great!" Tom would have probably been amused with the desperation of the situation if it hadn't been so dire.

The princess grappled a panel and pulled herself to the floor.

"Tom?" she whispered, "I don't want to die."

"What?" The half-form stopped scouring the walls and swivelled to face her. "You're not going to die!"

Lexi was silent.

Were those tears running down her cheeks?

Tom reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze.

"We're going to get out of here. We need to have faith – faith that you'll make it alive, faith that we'll get rid of the gremlins, faith that the ship will be repaired…and I need to have faith too."

Unbeknown to Lexi, he was contemplating Benny's unsettling warning. He really needed to have faith he and his Granny could get off the Zarantulus…but first he needed a plan. There was no use having faith if you didn't put in some action.

As this came to mind, Tom began to wonder if there was another way he could assure the Nekross that her life would be preserved.

"Lexi? Is there any way I can transfer air from my suit to yours?"

The princess leaned over and investigated the back of his tank. It had been a long time since her zero-G training. Was it possible that the spacesuits had functions she had forgotten?

There, nestled in an alcove at the bottom of the container, was a small tube. Words from her trainer sprang back into her head as clear as they had been all those years ago…

"_In case of oxygen depletion, the tube tucked underneath the supply can be connected with that of another wearer…"_

She explained this to Thomas. "I will need you to hold me still so I do not float away and severe the link."

"Here goes…"

Lexi unhooked the cord with one hand, as the wizard firmly clutched the other. She inserted the tube into a duct on her helmet's base, and kept an eye on her arm-piece. Tom gave a warm, comforting smile. The princess smiled back.

After a while, she concluded that her supply should be sufficient for two more hours, and slipped the tube back under the tank.

"Thank you," she said sweetly, reaching up to wipe away her tears…only to experience some difficulty due to her helmet!

Both of them laughed.

"The sooner we get out of these suits, the better!" commented Tom, and the pair went back to work.

…

With the transporters in operation again, Varg had nothing to obstruct him from beaming directly into the corridor leading to the flight deck.

The gremlins were deeply enthralled by the movie, which they had been viewing for some time by now.

The prince had set his weapon to stun as to ensure the creatures' magic would be in tact when he dumped them in the crate, which he placed on the floor near to the massive hole that remained at the entrance. The last thing he wanted was to be heard or seen by his prey, so he paced softly toward the breach, gun at the ready.

_On the count of three_, he thought. _One…two…three…_

Varg charged through the hole, aiming for the audience of monsters…which was a rather tricky task considering the fact they had disappeared into thin air.

"WHAT!?" spewed the flabbergasted Nekross.

Not only that, but it appeared the film was no longer playing either.

…

Tom couldn't possibly have been aware of this if Benny had not contacted him at the time - in total panic!

"Tom! The movie's ended! What do we do now?!"

"Calm down, Benny! Just put another one on!"

"Like what?"

"Um…Disney! Anything Disney!"

Benny sprinted out of his bedroom, down the stairs and into the lounge where he found a DVD of Cinderella. He rushed back into his room, praying that he hadn't disturbed his Mum or Dad, as it was gone one o'clock in the morning.

He slid the disc into the player and crossed his fingers it would work…

...

Tom held his breath. What his friend was doing was vital for the salvation of the Nekross' bacon. Never had he expected such a lengthy detour to delay him from capturing the gremlins!

He was so engrossed in listening to his com in the hope that Benny would report all was working smoothly that he nearly jumped out of his skin when Lexi tapped him on the shoulder.

"I have located the exit," she said proudly.

Tom didn't reply. He just let a massive beam break out on his face.

Lexi grinned. "You were right, Tom. We needed to have faith."

She glided over to the door she was talking about, not that the halfling could detect it was that as the wall was shrouded in darkness.

"Deactivate gravitation lock," said Tom into his gauntlet.

Slowly, he felt his body drift upward. "I will never get over this…" he mused.

He floated over to Lexi's side. Moving his torch vertically, he could make out the silhouette of a door identical to the ones he had already encountered on the Zarantulus.

The princess slid her weapon out from a compartment at the bottom of her tank and fired. There were no visible sparks, but that was only to be expected in a vacuum.

"Your gun really does work in space!" commented Thomas.

"They are designed for use in all environments."

For the next minute, Tom and Lexi worked together to heave the doors open with all their might. Finally, a strip of light peeked through. It was a good sign.

If you had been wandering through the proceeding corridor the next moment, you would have seen a six-foot female Nekross clad in a spacesuit topple out inelegantly on the deck, not having realised there was gravity on the other side. Tom climbed out carefully and helped her up.

"The lights in this passageway are no longer malfunctioning," observed Lexi as soon as she was back on her feet, consulting her arm-piece in case the life support had been fixed, "The environmental controls are operational as normal." She removed her helmet, and breathed deeply.

Tom had been right. She was alive, and it was good to be so.

Keeping an eye on her gauntlet, she instructed Tom to follow her down the access strip until they reached the store room, which wasn't far.

…

On the flight deck, the movie had been going for two minutes.

From a nearby wall, Varg made out the odd clunk. He paced toward the panel from which the noises were coming from, handling his gun cautiously. The thumps grew louder and more frequent, combined with the all too familiar laughter. The wall-piece began to quiver. Any moment now the monsters would spring into his clutches…

Before he could even cry in shock, Varg was knocked on the head by a rather large object that seemed to be comprised of flesh and blood - a rather large object that giggled constantly.

Quick as a flash, the creature started messing with his suit, pulling out the oxygen tubes and tapping into his gauntlet, causing it to give off sparks as if in frustration! His weapon didn't last 5 seconds before the monster ripped it to pieces.

Varg was ferociously trying to wrestle the thing off, when without warning he was beset by yet another gremlin, this one even more mischievous, who kept pulling his tentacles, and then another, and another. No sooner had he thrown one off did another one pounce onto his shoulders!

Meanwhile, a sizable audience had gathered once more in front of the monitor…

…

Out of the storeroom trod Lexi, now holding a hefty crowbar, pursued by Thomas, who wondered whether he ought to offer to help her carry it.

"The life support on the other side of this access is still out of order," said the princess as they approached a door, "We will need to put back on our helmets." She pressed keys on her gauntlet's panel. "The other doors in this corridor are now air-locked."

It was rather unwieldy carrying a space helmet under your arm, even more so than when it was on your head, so Tom was pretty glad when it was back in position. He had just finished checking the seal, when he realised Lexi was struggling to put hers on without poking herself in the stomach or face with the pry-bar. She stopped wrestling when Tom reached up and adjusted the helmet. The illumination came on the moment it clicked into place.

Lexi smiled. Come to think of it, she had smiled rather a lot that night.

"Why are you kind to me?" she enquired, "I'm your enemy."

Tom squeezed her gloved hand.

"That doesn't matter," he replied, "When I look at you, I don't see a monster - there's more to you. It's like there's a different Lexi inside waiting to break free."

Somewhere at the back of the Nekross' mind, this statement rang so true. It was like revelation. She had buried it for so long, refusing to let such feelings come to light. Lexi thought she knew who she was – princess of Nekron, slayer of wizards and devourer of magic, yet somehow whenever she was alone with Tom Clarke she found herself wondering whether she really was something more...

However, she was not ready to contemplate it further.

"There is no time to waste. I will need your assistance to unlock this door."

…

Jathro trudged into the transporter room, totally shattered.

"The damage to the outer hull is under control, my most Exquisite Excellency," he began, before finding himself giving an enormous yawn, "Would it be acceptable if I retired to my quarters?"

Hey, wait! Where was Varg?

"Excuse me, hag…" he said to Ursula, who was still pinned between two guards, "Do you have any idea what has become of the prince?" He gave another massive yawn.

"I have no idea, actually," Granny answered.

Jathro yawned again. He checked the time on his gauntlet.

"Well, I suppose I _could_ have a snooze," he reasoned, and put back on his helmet. He went back down the corridor, yawning all the while.

"Could you please let go of me?" Gran asked the officers who held her. "I'm starting to get pins and needles in my arms!"

The crewmen loosened their grip…and promptly moved their hands to the upper parts of her arms.

…

Tom and Lexi had traversed several passageways; opening each entrance with the assistance of the crowbar, until eventually they reached the original door that had caused them to go off on their alternative route. It was no match for the pair now.

The guards, who had been hanging around bored for the last hour, at last witnessed the jammed doors burst open, and who should emerge but the princess and the wizard half-form.

Immediately, they sprang into line.

"FORWARD, MARCH!" hollered Lexi.

The procession began stomping regimentally down the corridor. Lexi was at the head, followed by Tom, who was desperately trying to keep up. However, unlike earlier, he no longer felt like Lexi's prisoner – they were marching side by side, working together on this mission.

Finally, they made it into the passage leading to the flight deck, not having bothered to remove their helmets.

Lexi crept softly toward the breach still remaining on the entrance, crouching down and peering inside to verify that the gremlins were all gathered inside, only to find that the main source of entertainment was not Cinderella but rather an enraged Varg, furiously battling the horde of monsters that took turns pouncing on his suit and practically torturing him!

"That's my brother!" she shrieked in horror, all set to dash in and rescue him.

"Keep your voice down!" hissed Tom, holding her back, "You can't go in until I've completed the spell, or we might blow our cover! I promise your brother will be OK when I'm finished."

He and Lexi rose to their feet again. The officers had finished stacking the crates, ready to incarcerate those troublesome beasts which were soon to be defeated.

"Stand back," advised Tom.

He moved away from the opening, and whipped off one of his gloves.

"Meesh-bree-cain-DAH!"

_SNAP!_ went his fingers.

Even with her helmet on, Lexi could sense the intoxicating energy coming from the rainbow flare-up - even so much she could nearly taste it on her tongue. She was relieved the glass prevented her from reaching over and consuming it.

The gremlins were busy amusing themselves by attempting to poke their fingers into Varg's eyeballs (all three of them) when all of a sudden a tremendous force started pulling them away as though they were attracted to a powerful magnet. Try as they might to hold onto the nearest object, they couldn't fight it! The magnetism grew stronger and stronger, until only one creature remained, frantically clutching onto one of Varg's tentacles. He fiercely swatted it away as though it were an oversized gnat, and the gremlin screamed as it whizzed through the air and into the corridor until it landed straight in one of the awaiting traps.

"_Yes!_" shouted Tom, clenching his fist victoriously.

The creatures squeaked and cried from their tiny prisons, hammering at the walls in an effort to burst free, but with no avail.

Lexi removed her helmet and shook her antennae free.

"The mission is completed," she reported, before clambering through the hole to see what had become of the prince. "Are you all right, brother?"

Varg was bent over, hands on his legs, trying to catch his breath back. "I am fine, dear sister," he responded, "It appears…the gremlins…proved no match for the Nekross."

The now un-helmeted Tom appeared on deck. "I gave you what you wanted, Varg. It's time you kept your end of the bargain."

The prince began chuckling darkly, and gradually rose to his full height. He moved his arm-piece close to his face. "Varg to transporter room. Beam in the prisoner."

_Prisoner?_ thought Tom in alarm. A shiver ran down his spine as he realised just who his enemy was talking about.

He expected to see his Gran promptly materialize before his very eyes, but for some reason nothing happened.

"Beam in the prisoner!" repeated Varg angrily. He slapped the device and growled. "My communicator must be defective!"

"Lexi to transporter room," attempted the princess.

"What are you doing, Lexi?" asked a horrified Tom.

"Beam in the prisoner…"

Two seconds later there was a flash of light in front of the king's chamber and there stood Mrs Crowe, restrained by a pair of soldiers.

"Run, Thomas!" cried Granny, "They have no intention of letting us go! Escape while you still can!"

"Silence, hag!" ordered Varg, as she was bundled into the extractor, "Tonight the Nekross will declare revenge upon our deadliest foes!"

"You knew about this all along," gathered Tom, turning to the princess, "Stop it, Lexi! You know this is wrong. I thought we were friends!"

Lexi took this in for a moment and then burst out laughing. "You really believe we are friends?"

Varg was sniggering too.

"I find you _so_ amusing, Tom Clarke!" continued the princess, "It will be a shame to watch the magic being _sucked_ from your very bones!"

"I saved your life," remembered Tom amidst the cruel giggles, "Is this how you're going to repay me?"

"Enough, wizard half-form!" interrupted Varg, drawing near to his face, "At last the Nekross shall feast upon you and your delicious magic!"


	4. Chapter 4

**A big thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far and to my mum and dad for reading this story to check for any errors, and making sure it was funny enough! **

**I also extend a vote of thanks to a friend of mine who came up with the original "Gremlins on the Zarantulus" idea that sparked this story. You can credit her for all the best gags!**

Chapter four

Tom smirked. It was a pretty strange action for someone who would soon feel the magic being sucked from his bones.

"I should've _never_ made a deal with you," he confessed, "But you're not the only people I can make a deal with. _Eesh-spreen-wan-dah_!"

_SNAP_!

For a second, no-one had a clue what had just happened…or even whether anything had actually happened at all.

"There is no escape, wizard half-form!" jeered Varg.

"Want to bet?"

It was then Lexi discerned a startling buzzing sound coming from the corridor. She dived inside to see what the matter was – but she was too late to stop the wires on one of the crates sizzling until they exploded. Out of the container flew through the air a squirming gremlin, right into the arms of the awaiting wizard half-form.

Tom took several giant steps out of harm's way and hoarsely whispered to the creature, "I have locked you in a personal snaring spell. You won't be freed from my clutches unless you do exactly as I tell you. You've got to beam me and Gran and the other gremlins back to where we were in the first place."

He beckoned to Ursula in the extractor, which luckily hadn't yet been switched on. The monster nodded hastily and Tom loosened his arms, letting the gremlin – under the influence of the snaring spell – dive into a panel on the nearest computer.

"Stop him!" hollered Varg, but there was nothing they could do.

Ten seconds later, Tom, Granny and the stack of containers all vanished off the decks of the Zarantulus, much to Varg's frustration.

"Varg to transporter room!" he shrieked into the nearest console, "The prisoners have escaped. Lock onto their co-ordinates and beam them back."

The screen indicated that for some reason the transporter wasn't working.

"WHAT?!" yelled a thoroughly ballistic Varg. It was then he realised that there was once more a little menace hiding in the machinery. "Technician Jathro 15, report to flight deck! We have an intruder!"

Meanwhile, Technician 15 had just managed to tuck himself into his bunk when his com went off. He took one glimpse at it before hitting the mute button and climbing back under the covers, chuckling smugly.

He fished out a small object buried beneath the duvet and gave it a cuddle, for indeed not only Princess Lexi secretly slept with a childhood toy. Jathro had never been able to part with his bird Eenos, not that he would ever want anyone to find out – except his room-mate, who understood the need for privacy.

Satisfied at his defiance, he made himself comfortable and took a well-deserved rest.

…

"Come in, Technician Jathro 15!" tried Varg again. He roared and punched the console. "The com system must be malfunctioning!"

Lexi had stationed herself at another computer. "The gravity controls have been infiltrated on the flight deck!"

Next thing she knew, the console was a metre below her.

Varg hung onto his computer for dear life, yelling into the com for technicians to go and catch the pest.

Lexi didn't grab the terminal fast enough and drifted right across the room, bashing into the entrance.

"Activate gravitation lock!" thundered Varg into his arm-piece. Immediately, his boots fixed themselves to the floor.

A handful of engineers zipped through the breach in the door, seemingly unaware that the princess was floating above their heads. They ripped panels off the wall, and clambered inside, scouring the mainframe for the beast hidden within.

"Environmental controls are malfunctioning," the prince went on, "Oxygen is at 50%. The com system is non-operational. The pigs in blankets are in the oven…WHAT!?" It appeared the gremlin had now hacked into the damage information!

The lights above began flickering, and eventually the entire section was plunged into darkness.

"_Activate emergency lights_!"

For some reason, the gremlin had managed to bypass those too! Lexi was reduced to switching on her gauntlet's torch. She moved it around the area until she caught Varg in the beam.

"The light on my device is defective," he explained.

Both Nekross caught ear of those unmistakable giggles echoing through the nearby machinery, but neither of them could mentally pin-point its exact source. The sound seemed to come from all around them. It was as though the technology itself was laughing…

Even amidst this chaos, the combination of the darkness and the feeling of utter weightlessness reminded Princess Lexi very much of her escapades earlier, floating in space with no-one for company but the wizard half-form. She remembered his face, illuminated by the lights in his helmet, as he transferred his oxygen into her tank, smiling as though she were indeed his friend.

Perhaps, in a way, she was glad he wasn't dead…

…

Tom and Granny were stood once more in the quiet English village that had been beset earlier by the gremlin infestation.

Ursula stared intently at her surroundings, hardly able to believe they had once more got off the Zarantulus alive and well.

"Oh! Well done, Thomas!" she squealed, hugging the breath out of him, "I knew you would get us home."

"Hang on a minute, Gran," wheezed Tom, "What are we going to do about…them?" He pointed to the pile of gremlin traps.

Ursula let go of him and studied them carefully. "This was what I meant to do in the first place. Stand well back, Thomas!"

She raised her staff high and chanted, "_Ash-machach-dah!_"

Lowering her stick, she waited quietly.

"There!" she said after a while, "That ought to do it!"

"Um…what just happened?" As far as Tom was concerned, everything was the same!

Granny turned round, beaming victoriously. "I used a passing charm to banish the gremlins deep into the forest. They will not be able to trouble this village again for a long time, I can tell you!"

"What about the crates? We can't just leave them lying around for someone to bump into!"

"Aah…" mused Ursula, "I didn't think of that! I suppose we'll have to take them home with us."

The car was just around the corner so that wasn't a problem.

"I wonder what Dad's going to say when he finds I'm wearing a Nekross spacesuit!" exclaimed Tom in amusement, examining his getup, when a thought struck him. He still hadn't thanked the hero of the hour.

He opened the panel on his gauntlet and called, "Benny? Can you hear me?"

"Tom? Are you all right?" responded the familiar voice of his best friend, "I've thought of a plan to get you off the ship. You need to-"

"Hold on, Benzoid! We've escaped! You can turn the DVD off now."

"How did you do that?!"

"Let's just say the Nekross aren't the only people you can make deals with. Thanks for finding that film for us. You were great!"

"It's OK, Tom!"

Benny carefully slid the disc out of his laptop and had just popped it back into its case when he became aware of soft footsteps padding down the corridor. Were they coming towards his room…?

Quick as a flash, he slammed his laptop shut, raced back to his bed and dived under the covers, right before his mum opened the door.

"Benny?" she whispered, "Are you awake?"

The lad didn't stir.

_I must be hearing things_, she thought, closing the door.

_Phew!_ thought Benny gratefully, realising he was still clutching the Cinderella DVD. If his mum had noticed that, he would have had a lot of explaining to do…

…

As for the gremlin left on the Zarantulus, though over time technicians repaired the broken controls and searched scrupulously for the culprit, they never actually found it. For months afterward, the engineers were kept on their toes by the little horror…until, one day, suddenly the mischief just stopped.

Most of the technician staff supposed the gremlin had hacked into the transporters and beamed itself back to earth, where it would wreak havoc someplace else and let them relax. However, rumours arose that the creature hadn't really left, but lay in wait somewhere deep in the heart of the machinery.

Occasionally, when technicians were working late at night, they caught ear of a faint echo coming from a nearby panel, akin to the pitter-patter of tiny feet. Some of them even said they heard another noise – a noise that seemed unnervingly like impish laughter…

THE END


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